SANMEIGAKU

What is Sanmeigaku (Destiny Calculation)?

Sanmeigaku is a fate-reading system that converts a person’s birth date into the sexagenary cycle, applies the theory of yin-yang and the Five Elements, and diagrams the result on a distinctive chart called the "meishikiban" (destiny chart) to read tendencies in personality, life direction, work, and compatibility. It is said to have developed in Japan into its own distinct system, built on the foundation of traditional Chinese fate calculation.

Overview

System

Fate Reading (diagrams the sexagenary cycle and yin-yang/Five Elements on a destiny chart)

Origin

China → Japan

What You Need

Date of birth

Best For

Life direction, work, and compatibility

Time Frame

Life as a whole

Origins & History

Sanmeigaku is a divination system built on Chinese fate calculation, which reads a person’s destiny around the axis of the sexagenary cycle. The idea of converting a person’s birth year, month, and day into the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches and interpreting the result through the theory of yin-yang and the Five Elements has long been found within traditional Chinese fate calculation.

The system of Sanmeigaku used in Japan today is said to have been organized and published as an independent body of theory during the 1970s, building on sexagenary-cycle techniques that reportedly reached Japan from China after the Second World War. Its distinguishing feature is that it visually reads the balance of the sexagenary cycle and Five Elements calculated from the birth date by compiling them onto a distinctive chart known as the "meishikiban," though terminology and finer points of interpretation differ between schools.

How It Works

1. 01Calculate the corresponding sexagenary-cycle values (the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches) from the birth date.
2. 02Analyze the sexagenary values by applying the theory of yin-yang and the Five Elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water).
3. 03Diagram the combination of sexagenary values and Five Elements onto the distinctive "meishikiban" chart.
4. 04Read tendencies in personality, life direction, work, and compatibility from the balance of the arrangement shown on the chart.

What It Reveals

Sanmeigaku is well suited to comprehensively reading innate personality tendencies and aptitude for particular kinds of work or compatibility through the diagram of the destiny chart. At the same time, terminology and finer points of interpretation differ between schools, and documentation of how the system was formalized is limited, so readings can vary considerably from one practitioner to another.

Related Methods

Four Pillars of Destiny (Bazi)Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology)Nine Star KiI Ching (Zhou Yi)

References

• 算命学 - Wikipedia (https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AE%97%E5%91%BD%E5%AD%A6)